Nurse infected with COVID-19 reflects on time working in CHSLD
Nurse Else Leon volunteered to work at the CHSLD Denis-benjamin-viger in Île-bizard in May. At the time, long-term care facilities were struggling with soaring COVID -19 infections among residents and devastating staff shortages. In mid-may, Montreal public health director Dr. Mylène Drouin said 85 per cent of the deaths in the Greater Montreal region were in seniors’ residences.
Leon spoke to the Montreal Gazette last month about feeling overwhelmed on her first shifts, but she remained stalwartly positive about her decision to volunteer her services.
In June, Leon tested positive for the virus.
“I noticed a slight cough at work,” she said. “By the time I got home, I had a bad headache. The next morning, I was sneezing and coughing. The symptoms weren’t typical. I didn’t have a fever.”
Less than 24 hours after being tested, Leon received the call. She had COVID-19.
“I felt defeated,” she said. “I knew there was a risk, but I’m a positive and hopeful person by nature and so I never thought I would get sick.”
Leon said she was constantly thinking about what she was doing and how she was doing it while on the job.
“I struggled a bit with the positive diagnosis,” she said. “I felt like a failure.”
Leon was told that the warm and humid weather in May might have contributed to her chances of getting infected. Masks become moist more quickly in those weather conditions and when they do they no longer offer effective protection.
“In my opinion, I think the tiny aerosols (floating in the air and possibly COVID-19 positive) are more persistent and travel farther than we might think,” Leon said.
The good news is that Leon did not infect her husband and two sons. After isolating for two weeks, she could have returned to work without a swab test, a protocol that had changed.
“Regardless of whether the swab is positive or negative, they no longer think you are contagious after two weeks,” she said.
But, ultimately, Leon decided not to return, in part for her mental health and in part to remove any possible risk to her family’s health.
Over the course of her month at the care facility, Leon saw conditions improve. Residents still had COVID-19 but were not as sick. The mix of volunteers, military personnel and regular staff had meshed. Everybody had become familiar with the patients’ particular needs. A doctor was almost always on site.
“I became more of a coach/leader, voicing my appreciation for the work being done and helping staff prioritize what needed to be done,” she said.
Looking back?
“It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Leon said. “I can’t say it was enjoyable because of the extreme stress, but I was very proud to be there.”
Leon will return to teaching nursing a Vanier College in September and plans to draw on what she learned on the front lines when she teaches.
“As a nurse, you have to be able to think on your feet,” she said. “You have to be able to adapt, adjust, to do what’s best for that moment.”